Li'l E was mad he wasn't let into the devil club. I bet he was not included in other devil-people things. Which would make things more sad, since that would mean he didn't get to hang with anyone who accepted him ever._________________[Stripeypants has enabled lurk mode.]

Why did Lil'E have a game about killing demons and other hell creatures? Wouldn't that be rooting for the opposite team?

Well, they more appear to be...

Jabbing the hands of those desperately reaching upwards for help.

I suspect at the final level of the game, you realize that NO JOHN. YOU ARE THE DEMONS._________________"No, but evil is still being --Is having reason-- Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
-Ed, from Digger

One thing gets to me though... pretty much all the devil girls seem to be pretty much friendly, happy people, who just seem to stuck with the horns, no matter how ill-fitting it is.

She's essentially being taught to be "evil", by way of a video game. I doubt it's a commentary upon video games turning people evil, but more likely a suggestion that Satan's choice of how to lure people into his service is much like the service itself - all fun and games on the outside, with horrific deeds on the inside.

It seems fitting with his standard methods, and it makes me wonder if the others were indoctrinated in a similar manner? Fuchsia clearly realized what she was doing eventually, and broke the conditioning, which is in turn working a number over on Blue, but what about Absinthe? She clearly doesn't WANT to be evil, yet she signs people up to sell their souls, so at what point did she become disconnected with the act as being wrong?

Pebble's learning all the skills to be a devil girl from the comfort of her own home, and not even realizing that she's being tricked into doing so. Will this be the beginning of her slide into darkness? Satan hasn't forgotten about her fully... he's caught her in his yard at least once before since he turned her into a devil girl in the first place, so you have to wonder if this isn't the first step on the path paved with good intentions.

Although, we've never seen Li'l E playing this particular game so it's possible he saw the box-art or summary and thought it was completely different from what he expected. But he has played a similar game - though it was less killing demons and more torturing your neighbors.

... Although in this specific strip it seems less like demons or demonic creatures of other kinds and more like a stylized version of the damned, similar to Storytime Zombie - though the other game Pebbles had been seen playing certainly implies otherwise. Is that game and this game the same? Or are they different games? If the latter, then how many fucking pitchforked themed games does Li'l E own? Questions we may never know the answer to, because they're really not that important._________________

Why did Lil'E have a game about killing demons and other hell creatures? Wouldn't that be rooting for the opposite team?

It's possible that it was one of his first games, or one that Pebble just recently picked up for herself.

I find it unlikely that L'il E would have started out evil... the more we see of his backstory, the more we see he had no real reason to like Satan in the first place, so something must have triggered him to want to like his dad.

So... what happened? Well, if he hated Satan at first... wouldn't a video game where he goes into hell and slays demons be exactly right up his alley? And wouldn't it also be the ideal method of corruption to lure people into becoming evil?

As I'd said earlier, Satan's choice of tools seems to be primarily based upon "fun and games". It's all bling, all money, all fun, all the dressed up fancy awesomeness and material possessions you can get! It's "good" stuff, right?

Somewhere in there, I'm expecting a bait and switch, or a gradual decline of morality, such as starting out with demons, but each progressive level down, you run into something less and less threatening...

The closer you get to your friend, the more you have to let your morality slide to get to the end. After all, you just murdered a bunch of people already, right? It's not THAT big of a step to kill something a little more innocent each time... and you DO want to save your friend, right?

I just kinda picture it guilt tripping the player and gradually shifting to more and more horrific actions, where the difficulty of the game isn't in how hard the gameplay is, but in how difficult it is for the player to toss their morals away to kill the targets you need to in order to win.

so you have to wonder if this isn't the first step on the path paved with good intentions.

That's really clever!

I'm not sure that Pebbles is the character to tell that story with. And . . . not exactly the "first step," since she's already robbed a store, assaulted police officers, and is running around armed and ready for the 'pocylips.

Why did Lil'E have a game about killing demons and other hell creatures? Wouldn't that be rooting for the opposite team?

It's probably because Li'l E did have an interest in hunting hell creatures. He did intend to capture Forky and mount him above a fireplace at one point.

True, but it's hard to say if he was trying to be cruel to it in particular, if he was just being cruel in general because that's the evil thing to do, if he just expected you were supposed to do that kind of thing, or if he really wanted it as a pet or something and then it attacked him =P

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Is that game and this game the same? Or are they different games? If the latter, then how many fucking pitchforked themed games does Li'l E own? Questions we may never know the answer to, because they're really not that important.

Lies! Lies and slander! We must know, because if there's a whole line of wii-pitchfork games it could be big business! =D

...I know I'd buy a copy anyway >.>;

Assuming, you know... it's not going to corrupt what little remains of my soul =P

so you have to wonder if this isn't the first step on the path paved with good intentions.

That's really clever!

I'm not sure that Pebbles is the character to tell that story with. And . . . not exactly the "first step," since she's already robbed a store, assaulted police officers, and is running around armed and ready for the 'pocylips.

She's not "good intentions" so much as "innocence in ignorance."

Hrm, you make a valid point. Does she even consider stabbing them to be wrong? Would she run out and stab people for realsies if she felt it was a good idea?

True, but it's hard to say if he was trying to be cruel to it in particular, if he was just being cruel in general because that's the evil thing to do, if he just expected you were supposed to do that kind of thing, or if he really wanted it as a pet or something and then it attacked him =P

I think that Lil'E was like Seymour in that he just wanted to acquire as many hell-themed things as possible. I don't think he really thought too hard about the fork being alive. It seems like it might have been an inanimate object enchanted by a BOMF anyway (which would explain why it went limp in the reality zone, sort of like the devil books).

Anyway, cute strip but sort of disappointing. Although it might be foreshadowing for things to come. Maybe Lil'E or someone else (Seymour?) will need to be rescued from hell, and Pebbles will be all "I know this! Stabby stabby woo rescue time!"

And:
Lil'E seems to collect anything even remotely Devil-related, so I wouldn't be surprised that it was already in his collection. Or maybe he just wanted the game because part of the premise was that he had a friend